The Osceola times., 1887-05-28
THE TRAIN DISPATCHES
An Ohiciai Who Holds the Life of
Passenger In His Hand

"SSnSeh 1dnd.
The travelling public has long bs,,
wont TO bestow approval upon rsilw.s
engineers for the self-sacriticing sni;'
which they exhibit when the lives o.
trusted to their care are endanvsr.s
and in the annals of the rail these -
currences are so frequent that pas,s.
gers generally picture the man at II.
throttle Of the locomotive as hero n,
virtue of his position. These opinion,
are dcservedly held, and il would h.
the grossest injustice to detract from
the honor which sclf-abnega,ion Al.
ways merits; but there is class Of rail.
way employees. almost entirely IN.
known to passengers, whose respors.
bility is so much greater. and who's
slightest omission might jeoparlize tn,
lives of people on trains more than any
oversight on the part of conductors or
engineers, that it is indeed strange that
they are so seldom mentioned in the
public prints.
This class is the train dispatchers
whose every order is implicitly obeyel
by trainmen; and while the crew Of on.
train is responsible for the movemen,
,f that train alone. the dispatcher holds
in his hands the lives Of every indiyid.
,al on every train on the road; and on
a road having large traffic the duties
imposed on him are very great and ar.
duous.
His position in the railway service is
unique; were all trains running on time
and provided for on the periodical
timetable issued by the company, he
would have no duties to perform; but
trains will get delayed and occasion.
will arise requiring extra trains. OF
trains without any specified time OF
rights, To be run over the road, and
then his services are necessary to avoid
hours of delay.
All trains on railroads are divided in
classes. according TO their Importance;
generally two, passenger and freight
and all trains of one class running ina
specified direction have the right TO the
road, or need keep no lookout for
trains of the same or a lower class run
ming in the opposite direction. Thus
it is assumed that on a certain railroad
trains running eastward have the right
of way over trains running westward
then an east-bound passenger train can
run the whole length of the road in en-
tire disregard of all trainsi another
passenger train going west need only
look out for the east-bound passenger
train, while the freight trains must
keep out Of the way of both passenger
trains and Of the freight train which is
running in the direction prescribed as
having the right of road.
Every one understands that all
trains are charted, or have a time given
for passing each station, which time
can in no instance be anticipated. and
hence all train men know where al
other trains ought to be at any particu-
lar moment, If on time; but rs trains
frequently and generally get late. the
train of inferior class must have it,
movement expedited by some extrane-
Gus cause, or it may be delayed for
hours awaiting train that may have
been wrecked or has been kept back
for some other of many causes. Then
the duties of the train dispatcher are
Of Importance. He will probably give
an order to the delayed train by tele-
graph directing it not 10 90 beyond
certain place which he thinks it can
reach without difficulty and he directs
the opposing train to proceed to the
same place and there pass the other
train. and in that manner the trains are
enabled to pass each other without any
delay to either. His great response
bility consists in that he may have y
dozen other trains in his charge at the
same time, and in directing one train
to 90 beyond its usual place to meet
another he may neglect to give an
order to the second train, and in such
an event n collision would probably
ensue, much property be destroyed and
probably lives be lost.
1t will readily be seen that the slight
est mistake of train dispatcher might
cause serious results; and In this re-
spect his responsibility is probably
greater than that of any other indiyid-
) ual under whose charge the public are
placed. A pilot on vessel may lose
lis reckoning, but the fact soon be-
come apparent to Others, and his capac-
| ity for mischief is thereby lessened;
other railway employees may neglect
their duties, and rush headlong into
danger, but their associates generally
realize the danger before any unfor-
tunate results ensue; but the slightest
; behest of n train dispatcher must be
obeyed without question; even though
to do so would jeopardize the lives OF
those receiving the orders-though. Of
! course, until an accident results the
train men are ignorant Of the fact that
they have been given wrong directions.
, Instances Of oversight of dispatchers
are extremely rarc-much less than o!
neglect of conductors and engineers d
adhere to the orders given TO them -
and while they perform these onerous
duties almost entirely unknown to the
} people whose lives they have in theiI
control, and therefore never receive
the need Of praise due them, travellers
ought at least be made acquainted with
their duties and the important part
they play in the rapid and safe move
ment Of passengers. - Philadelphia